What should I focus on? (part-time master's)

Graduate School
1

<p>Hello all, first time posting here.</p>

<p>I'm preparing to apply for a part-time master's degree program in NYC area and would appreciate any advice on my current situation.</p>

<p>Background: state university with civil engg major (low gpa, rough first 2 years but upward trend junior and senior year, graduated with 2.85 / 3.3 major))</p>

<p>Research/published paper: none</p>

<p>Internship: summer internship with a top 25 construction firm in US as civil engg intern.</p>

<p>Work experience: worked at ~2 companies for short time and currently with a good company for almost 2 years (environmental field)</p>

<p>GRE: haven't taken yet. currently studying manhattan prep book (based on SAT scores, i would expect at least 720Q/570V/3.0+ AW on old scale).</p>

<p>Goal: part-time master's degree program in Civil Engineering or Environmental Engineering/Science (not 100% sure yet) while working (not really interested in research as of now but i haven't really looked to see what would interest me so..)</p>

<p>Schools I will apply to: CUNY-Grove, Rutgers-New Brunswick, NJIT-Newark, NYU Poly-Brooklyn, Stevens Institute-Hoboken (not in any order).</p>

<p>Questions:
1) Other than studying for the GRE exam and getting the best score I can, what are some other things that I should focus on?</p>

<p>2) Would it increase my chances if I apply for the Spring 2015 semester instead of Fall 2014 semester? I question this because I'm assuming that the candidate pool would be much higher and competitive in Fall than Spring.</p>

<p>3) Is it possible to take graduate level courses without being in the program and possibly transfer those credits later on to support my Master's degree? I question this because my specs (mainly GPA and lack of research experience) aren't very impressive and I would seriously consider taking a course at a school that I really want to go to and do well and hope that that would have positive impact on my application later on (also as a "check" on myself whether I can handle the study while working)</p>

<p>4) From the schools listed, do any of them seem very tough for me to get in?</p>

<p>I would really appreciate your comments and advice.</p>

<p>Thank you,</p>

2

<p>Any comments would be appreciated…</p>

3

<p>OK, let me try answering these one by one</p>

<ol>
<li><p>GRE is fine, try to locate good letters of reference from your work or your undergraduate time if possible. Don’t fret the lack of research experience. For a Professional Masters, research is less important.</p></li>
<li><p>For a professional Masters, it won’t make any difference when you apply. Since professional Masters are generally self-funded, universities are more interested in academic qualifications than limiting enrollment. If you meet their standards, you will be admitted.</p></li>
<li><p>My university, Illinois Tech, has a non-degree graduate status for just this case. I am sure that at least some of the schools on your list do too. It is a good way to test the waters and demonstrate to the program that you can do the work.</p></li>
<li><p>Hard to say, it depends on how they look at your GPA and what their standards are, or more appropriately, how rigid they are in maintaining those standards.</p></li>
</ol>